U.K January 2010 Applicants

5 years retail experience wasn't enough for Merc at last app for me but i guess my cover letter was terrible, or i needed to be more hospitality orientated!

 

Debz, my email said

"This season there has been a huge interest in the Cultural Representative Program throughout the United Kingdom.

The Yummy Jobs Team has reviewed each and every application very carefully and even though we wish we were able to put forward every applicant for a position at Walt Disney World, we are unable to do so.

Due to the quality of the applications we have received, sadly we are unable to consider you for the Cultural Representative Program at this time.

Due to the volume of applications we receive Yummy Jobs are unable to provide you with specific feedback on your application however we are always happy to assist you in reaching your future goals"


I didn't request specific feedback but I know somebody else who did. Basically it was mainly about not having the correct experience. I didn't spend much time at all on my first application so fair enough I didn't get an interview. This time, I've spent a lot of time making my application really stand out, I hope so anyway!

 

It messed up i think when i applied.

I recieved that 6 times! Talk about rubbing it in

 

thanks for the info guys much appreciated!

fingers xd for all of us this time around.

which wud u prefer f&b or merc? or hrc?

 

wow, 5 years?! oh dear. i won't have a chance then! i have about 2 years.

 

Well I have quite a few friends who are doing CRP at the moment and have asked them the 'food or merch' question.

Apparently merch is enjoyable, a more laid back, unstressful kind of job but the pay isn't as good as food.

Food can be a lot more variety, can be very challenging but social, and once you're serving you can make a lot of money from tips.

So there are good and bad points for both. As for HRC, as it's an 'operating participant' (or something like that, you know like Rainforset Cafe and McDonalds aren't Disney but can be found at WDW), you don't get as many benefits. For example, you can't get free entry for your friends and family, just discount vouchers.

 

Don't worry about the *amount* of experience you have had, the most important thing is *what* experience you have had. For example you may have done some voluntary or charity work for a two month period, or done a disney summer program, or coached sport once a week for six months, etc etc, which are all valuable experiences despite not being for a long period of time.

 

I think it was more the fact that my cover letter was terrible and the industry i sell in couldn't be further from hospitality if i tried!

 

I wouldn't worry too much, experience isn't everything they look for. Some people have gotten through with next to no relevant experience, but they obviously show the right qualities for Disney, and that they can be trained. This is half the problem, no one can ask "what are the criteria for the CRP?" because it seems so random and subjective. Yummy's website, and Disney's website both say that no experience is necessary as you will be fully trained for your position. It's all a bit weird. Especially when, if you ask for feedback, they almost always say "not enough/wrong type of experience". One thing that does seem to go in people's favour is having worked at Disney before (assuming they have a clean record card). Personally, I think that's not fair, but what can you do?

For whoever asked if we find out... If you're declined you'll get the email that Dug quoted. If you get accepted for a phone interview you'll get an email saying as such, and asking you to arrange a time for it. You won't just get called out of the blue, that's not fair, and also very hard to arrange with people in the service industry. Waitressing and Retail jobs, ie shift jobs, have some rather interesting hours to work around.

And finally, to answer debz, I'll be going for F&B. All my experience is in waitressing, and I love it, and there's more positions in F&B than merch. The extra pay is just a bonus for me, merch can't be that much lower... they pay you enough to pay rent and buy food, and that's all you really need.

 

I just had a bit of a laugh at being referred to as Dug! Haha does anyone else just love Dug from Disney/Pixar's UP? ;D

I think he is hilarious, hence my username on here.

 

I've still not seen it?!?!?!?! Yes, I'm ashamed of myself as well. I REALLY need to find it somewhere and watch it. Like, soon. Before I have a fit. Especially as all my friends got to go see it for free when I was working. Grrrrrrrr.

 

It's out on DVD in February (I'm currently a disney store cast member and tell this info to people most days)... I will be buying it on the day it comes out. Best disney film I have seen in years, it's so moving and well written.

 

Oooo...which disney store do you work at?! Im a disney store cast member too, and tell people the same

 

OMG! I've been away from here for a weekend and I return to find over 10 new pages! CRAZY COOL 8) !

After catching up on all the posts I see that everyone else feels the same as me....worried that their experience isn't enough! I agree with VikkiLillyBee, Yummy Jobs seem to be very open-minded about the people they employ. Some have years and years of experience and others have none! Which makes it ever so much harder to stand out go through to the phone interview! I hope they don't favour those who have worked at Disney before as I agree that that is pretty unfair, it would be a never ending circle of not having the right experience, as you've not worked at Disney before so you don't have the right experience to work at Disney!

 

I worked in Disney for 6 months doing merch and i'm on my third application for the CRP, and i know other people in the same boat, so having previous Disney experience doesn't help one bit! It really does seem to be the luck of the draw!

 

dug dug dug dug

 

Out of random interest... those that are applying for their 2nd/3rd/xth time... How much do you change your application each time? Obviously you update it with everything new you've done between applications, even if that is just an extra 6 months of doing the same thing, but how many people do a complete over-haul of their CV and start afresh?

As for fairness of applications, someone once told me something about these kinds of job applications...
Your CV is being looked at by a human. Humans don't have infinite memories and comparison skills. Your CV is sat in a huge pile along with hundreds of others, but you're only going to be compared to the previous 5-10 and the next 5-10. So in essence, you have to beat out 20 other candidates. Doesn't sound too hard, does it? But here's the stitch. Those 20 other candidates may be the best 20 of the 1000. In which case, you don't stand much of a chance. Or they may be the worst 20 of the 1000, and you're a clear winner. This is how someone who, to you, appears worse on paper, can get an interview when you don't. This is why we can't compare ourselves to each other (unless our CVs happen to have been piled together! Lol). Strange, but true. And also food for thought.

 

Very interesting point vikki hopfully i was put next to the not so good ones !! i have missed so much and it's only been like an hour since i last went on....If i was to apply it would be for food as there are ment to be more spaces available plus it's what i'm trained it!!! i'm so nervous i can't wait....This is my second time applying i did not really change my CV apart from being promoted at work but instead i completly re-wrote my cover letter to make it short and sweet and a little bit different to try and stand out!!! anywho not long now good luck everyone!!!

P.S i really wanna see up but have not got round to it...the little dog in it seems so cute

 

You're totally right! When it comes to applying to jobs like this where literally thousands of people apply, you do really need to make your CV and CL stand out, so when they read it at Yummy Jobs a certain phrase of yours sticks in their head so much, that they come back to your CV and forget some others on the way! LOL!

I've not seen UP yet, but hopefully I'm going to see Avatar in 3D! I also saw A Christmas Carol in 3D and that was AMAZING! It was awesome!!

 

The 1st time i didn't put much effort in, i was still working in Disney and a bit cocky so was sure that would be enough to get an interview : The 2nd time i did a complete overhaul of my CV and worked really hard on a cover letter that i thought was pretty good, obviously it wasn't! This time there wasn't really much more i could add to it so i just added the extra few months of work that i've done since the last apps! I did a new cover letter though! It's just so frustrating now because i have no idea what i can say to make it stand out! ???